THE Ministry of Natural Resources has rushed to the aid of the Young Warriors Cricket Club of Cumberland, East Canje, Berbice as they seek to restore the club and its venue to its former glory.
Letters of requests and phone calls were made to several businesses, private individuals and Government ministries.

Imran Saccoor, president of YWCC reached out to Hon. Minister Vickram Bharrat, Ministry of Natural Resources, who readily agreed, and on a recent visit to Berbice, presented a cheque of $250 000 to members of the club.

Minister Bharrat, himself a Berbician, said that he is elated to be part of the restoration of the ground knowing that the club has produced so many outstanding cricketers, including Shimron Hetmyer, over the years.
He is happy to know that the Executive is making an effort to fix the issues and pledged his continued support while calling on former players to contribute.

Saccoor in reply, thanked the minister while he laid out the plans and projects to be undertaken.
The first phase will be the fence which is estimated to cost about $750 000, followed by the outfield and then the pavilions, he added.

He promised that all funds will be accounted for and the club is planning fundraisers to help cover the cost of the restoration.
Six years ago the venue was in picture-perfect condition. Unfortunately, since then, it has deteriorated rapidly.

Saccoor, continues to appeal to the GoG, corporate Guyana and private individuals for assistance. He said that the first step is to replace the fence then fix the outfield, fix the pavilions and move aggressively to recruit new players.

The YWCC produced many outstanding players during its 20 years of existence with the latest being West Indies batting star, Shimron Hetmyer.

Other players who represented Berbice, Guyana and the West Indies at different levels are Gajanand Singh who now plays for the USA, Richard Ramdeen, former National captain Damodar Daesrat, Seon Hetmyer, Paul Wintz, Kwesi Maltay, Balram Samaroo, Alex Algoo, Kevin Ramdeen, Loaknauth Ramsuchit, Kassim Khan, Linden Austin, Sanjay Khan, Shazad Khan, Ishwar Singh, Aaron Beharry, Anil Beharry, Suresh Dhanai, Farouk Hussain and Daryl Narine among many others.

The YWCC won the first and only Shapoorji Palonji National T20 competition defeating Blairmont CC and Neal & Massy National Forty Overs Competition, defeating the powerful Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in the final at the Guyana National Stadium, among other championship titles. The club won the GCB Club-of-the-Year title for two consecutive years.

The current executive is seeking help in cash and kind to help restore the venue.
Contact can be made with Imran Saccoor, Aubrey David on 646-0294, Suresh Dhanai on 685-3101 or any executive member of the club.